Proposed guidelines were released Wednesday by the Environmental Protection Agency for new instructions for the labeling of pesticides designed to improve the clarity and consistency of labeling and reduce off-target spray and dust drift.
"The new label statements will help reduce problems from pesticide drift," said Steve Owens, the assistant administrator for EPA's Office of Prevention, Pesticides and Toxic Substances. "The new labels will carry more uniform and specific directions on restricting spray drift while giving pesticide applicators clear and workable instructions."
EPA plans to evaluate scientific information on risk and exposure based on individual product use patterns on a pesticide-by-pesticide basis. These findings will determine what measures the agency will take such as no-spray buffer zones, droplet or particle size, weather conditions and other possible restrictions.